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Ok after a year in school and no field experience I am about to embark on my first interview with an HVAC company.

My work history is a bunch of years in the resturant biz, and a bunch more in the publishing industry.. Interviews for both of those industries was different so I expect this to be a wholey different approach too.

A) what should I expect to be asked
B) Attire.. what is appropiate, what is too much
C) Any suggestions you have, help me woo them over.

Like I said. I've been in school for a year... just no field experience. I know my txvs from my cap tubes, my high sides from my low and my line v from control v. I can sniff out a fault from a mile away and have a purty smile.

Good techs are so hard to find that if you strike him as a good one, you're in like Flynn. If you're already a good in the sense that you're as good as you can be for just having gotten out of school, just be yourself and relax. If the person interviewing is worth a damn, he'll sniff that out with no problem.

If you have to convince him, I wouldn't bother anyway. If they have to be cajoled into seeing you for what you are, they'll probably have to be cajoled later into believing you over a customer if there should be a dispute. They'll also have to be cajoled into giving you a raise when and in the amount you deserve.

I've personally never worried about impressing a potential employer. I know that I'm honest and I do good work. If they can't figure that out, they can't see the forest for the trees and I don't want to be there.

A) Expect technical questions. They may even have a written test. After that it's anyone's guess. Some will stick a probe up your rear. Others will talk about fishing. When I interviewed in a different industry I didn't care much what we were talking about, I just wanted the potential employee to talk. The more they talked the more I got a feel for who they were.

B) Dress in your nicest, non-garish, non-suit clothes. If you don't have nice, non-garish, non-suit clothes then what are you doing in my trade?

C) Wooing is a mistake in my opinion. See the above. The only time I think wooing is perhaps necessary is for an extremely high demand job that gets more applicants than it needs. Since you're right out of school, I doubt you have much chance for such a thing anyway.

Flynn rhymes better. Take note Tim. You could potentially "woo" the interviewer with you're knowledge of movies made before you (or at least I) was born.

Indeed, I'd be impressed with a suit too. However, I wouldn't be unimpressed with something else. And I imagine there's a few old farts out there that might think you too soft handed if you were wearing a suit. Of course... IF they actually thought that then perhaps they're an older gaseous emission than you'd want to work for anyway. LOL!

Indeed. Since I like suits too, I must have an "air about me" as well.

I was thinking my former old timey employer. In his world a man got his hands dirty, worked unsafe hours at low wages and didn't need no new fangled electronic leak detector. Soap bubbles have been serving man since the invention of soap!

Ah come on now. You've been in TWO other industries. You know the resume shtick. You put down the same old boring and useless garbage as everyone else does and be done with it. If there's anything in the past relevant to the present then focus on it. I was a fast food manager as teenager and did rather well at it. So I focused on the fact that my former employer was willing to entrust the care of his million dollar facility to me for eight hours at a time and that I made him good money. If there isn't anything relevant than just summarize.

Don't be so insecure! That is, unless you have reason to be. In which case, be as insecure as you like!

I always thought, and have been told, that you dress as if you were going to start the job that day. So my question is, would you do this type of work in a suit, or Khakis and a polo shirt? This would look professional yet comfortable and easy to move in, right?
What would you do if you were interviewed by the person who only does the book work and has no experience in or knowledge of the field?

your resume is just a formality, be yourself. If you came into my office wearing a suit, I would refer you to the door to door marketing company across the street. I have a blank standard wiring schematic(without the wires) that I use on all of my potential interviews...simple basic straight cool system, no tricks. if you can connect the dots, you get past the office manager(my wife, she hates being called a secretary!)After that,I will ask you a crapload of technical questions, and why you think I should hire you,if you answer the tech questions to my satisfaction,you get to have lunch with me! this stage is just to find out if I can trust you, obviously if I take you to lunch, you are feeling pretty comfortable at this point...don't let your guard down, and don't refuse to have a beer with me at lunch (unless you don't drink).
Usually at this point, I pretty much know whether I can trust you or not, and this is my deciding factor on whether I hire you. If you make it through lunch, you are pretty much locked for the job.

Maybe a little off the wall, but it has worked for me thus far...breaking the ice is the toughest part, after that.....it's cake. Good luck!